Practitioner's Profile: Chuck Chapman's Journey from Service to Emergency Management Technology

Our careers don't always follow a straight line. Sometimes, the experiences that seem unrelated at first become the very things that prepare us for what comes next. For Chuck Chapman, a career spanning the U.S. Navy, law enforcement, nursing, public health, emergency management, and technology has given him a uniquely broad perspective on what it takes to prepare for and respond to critical events.

Chuck recently joined the Veoci team as an Account Executive within Veoci's Government team, but his connection to Veoci goes back much further. Before joining the team, Chuck was a Veoci customer for approximately eight years, using the platform to build and support emergency management programs within the City of Austin.

We spoke with Chuck about his career journey, his experience as a Veoci practitioner, and what today's emergency management professionals can do to build stronger, more capable programs.

A Career Built on Service

Chuck's educational background is as diverse as his career. He holds an Associate of Science in Nursing from San Joaquin Delta College, a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management from Ashford University, and a Master of Arts in Security Studies from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

His professional career has been equally varied.

Chuck is a veteran of the U.S. Navy submarine service and later served as a police officer with the Manteca, California Police Department. His interest in public service eventually led him into nursing, where he worked in operating rooms, post-surgical care, and public health as an Emergency Preparedness Coordinator.

Emergency preparedness would ultimately become a central focus of his career.

Chuck went on to build two emergency management programs within the City of Austin — first at Austin Water and later at Austin Energy. He retired from Austin Energy in June 2026 as its Director of Emergency Management.

While Chuck had sales experience earlier in his career, including time as a U.S. Navy recruiter and in direct sales, he hadn't planned on making sales his next career move.

Then an opportunity with Veoci came along.

From Customer to Veoci Team Member

Chuck's relationship with Veoci started long before he became an employee. In 2019, while working at Austin Water, he brought Veoci into the organization to support incident response, internal planning, and exercises. Later, he brought the platform with him to Austin Energy.

For Chuck, Veoci wasn't simply another technology solution. It became an important part of building and operating successful emergency management programs.

"Veoci is the number one external factor for building and operating two very successful programs."

One of the platform's greatest strengths, in his experience, was its ability to bring multiple stakeholders together. Emergency management rarely happens in isolation. During an incident, organizations need to coordinate across departments, agencies, and other stakeholders while maintaining a shared understanding of what is happening.

Veoci helped Chuck's teams coordinate stakeholders, share situational awareness, and respond to incidents in real time.

After retiring from Austin Energy, Chuck was contacted by a current Veoci employee about an open position. Having spent years as a customer and practitioner, he immediately recognized the opportunity and jumped at the chance to join the team.

Building Familiarity Through Practice

Chuck's experience has shaped his approach to getting people comfortable with emergency management technology.

One lesson stands out: use the system before you need it.

For Chuck, training and exercises were critical opportunities to demonstrate functionality and build confidence. Rather than introducing a platform only when an emergency occurs, he found value in making it part of the organization's regular rhythm.

Training. Information sharing. Exercises. Planning.

The more frequently users interacted with the system, the more comfortable they became with it — and that familiarity translated into better performance when an actual incident occurred.

"Familiarity breeds competence and comfort within the system."

It's a simple idea, but one that can have a significant impact. When an emergency happens, users shouldn't be learning where to find information or how a system works for the first time. They should already know the process.

Chuck also emphasized the importance of making it clear that the technology is the organization's official response platform. Demonstrating the system during exercises and reinforcing its role during real responses helped drive adoption and establish expectations among users.

Emergency Management in a Changing Technology Landscape

The emergency management profession continues to evolve, and technology is playing an increasingly important role.

Chuck sees the rapid pace of technological change — particularly the growing inclusion of artificial intelligence — as both an opportunity and a challenge for public-sector organizations and municipalities.

New technologies can provide practitioners with additional resources and capabilities, but organizations must also determine how those technologies fit into existing processes, policies, and operational environments.

For government organizations, that balance is particularly important. Technology needs to solve real problems, support the people using it, and ultimately make organizations more capable of preparing for and responding to incidents.

Chuck's career has given him the opportunity to see that challenge from several perspectives: as a first responder, healthcare professional, emergency manager, customer, and now technology provider.

Advice for Today's Practitioners

For Chuck, one of the most effective ways to build successful technology adoption is surprisingly straightforward: make the system part of everyday work.

If users only encounter an emergency management platform during an actual emergency, the technology can feel unfamiliar and intimidating. But when people use it regularly for information sharing, training, exercises, and planning, that apprehension begins to disappear.

The goal isn't simply to teach people how to use a platform. It's to make the platform familiar enough that using it becomes second nature.

The more users interact with the system, Chuck says, the better they understand it — and the more comfortable and capable they become when it matters most.

It's a lesson Chuck learned firsthand while building emergency management programs in Austin, and one he now brings with him to his role at Veoci.

A Practitioner Perspective at Veoci

Chuck's journey to Veoci may have taken several unexpected turns, but each chapter has contributed to the perspective he brings to his new role.

His experience in the military taught him about service and discipline. Law enforcement gave him firsthand experience in public safety. Nursing and public health exposed him to healthcare and preparedness. Building emergency management programs taught him the importance of coordination, planning, and communication. And eight years as a Veoci customer gave him an understanding of the platform from the practitioner's side of the table.

Now, as an Account Executive within Veoci's Government Vertical, Chuck brings all of those experiences together.

Rather than simply talking about emergency management technology, he's lived the challenges practitioners face — and seen firsthand what happens when the right tools, people, and processes come together.

Welcome to the Veoci Team

Veoci is built around people with real-world experience, and Chuck Chapman's career embodies the many paths that can lead someone to emergency management technology.

From serving in the U.S. Navy submarine service to working in law enforcement and healthcare, building emergency management programs, and ultimately becoming a Veoci customer and team member, Chuck brings a perspective shaped by decades of service and experience.

His firsthand understanding of the challenges facing public-sector emergency management teams gives him a unique perspective when working with practitioners and organizations looking to strengthen their preparedness and response capabilities.

We're excited to welcome Chuck to the Veoci team and look forward to the knowledge and practitioner perspective he brings to the Government Vertical.

If you'd like to learn more about Chuck Chapman, check out his LinkedIn profile.